Mahatma Gandhi’s statue removed from University of Ghana over claims that the Indian leader was a ‘racist’

A statue of legendary Indian independence leader, Mahatma Gandhi has been removed from a University campus in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

University of Ghana lecturers began a petition for its removal shortly after it was unveiled in 2016 by India’s former President Pranab Mukherjee that Gandhi was a racist. The petition said Gandhi was “racist” and African heroes should be put first.

In the wake of the row, Ghana’s government at the time said the statue would be relocated. Lecturers and students told the BBC that the statue, originally located at the University’s recreational quadrangle, had been removed on Wednesday.

The University confirmed this, saying that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration was responsible. Law student Nana Adoma Asare Adei said “having his statue means that we stand for everything he stands for and if he stands for these things [his alleged racism], I don’t think we should have his statue on campus.”

Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most celebrated figures of the 20th Century. He is best known for leading non-violent resistance to British colonial rule in India. However, as a young man he lived and worked in South Africa, and although he has inspired people throughout the world his comments on black Africans have been controversial.

In his early writings he referred to black South Africans as “kaffirs” a highly offensive racist slur. He also said that Indians were “infinitely superior” to black people.